American Express Announces Serve(SM), the Next Generation Digital
Payment PlatformServe Offers Person-to-Person, Online, Mobile, and Traditional Card Capabilities
in a Single Account

NEW YORK, March 28, 2011 --

American Express today unveiled Serve(SM), a digital payment and
commerce platform that gives consumers a new way to spend, send and receive
money with services that go beyond the existing global payment networks.

With Serve, consumers can make purchases and person-to-person (P2P) payments
online (serve.com), via mobile phones, and at millions of merchants who accept
American Express cards. Serve unifies multiple payment options into a single
account that can be funded from a bank account, debit, credit or charge card, or
by receiving money from another Serve account.

Serve is an easy-to-use, digital alternative aimed at consumers who currently
rely on cash, check and debit card. Serve accounts can be accessed via Serve
Apple iOS and Android applications, at Serve.com and through Facebook. Through
Serve, American Express aims to expand into new segments of the market that do
not rely on traditional charge and credit cards to manage their day-to-day
finances.

“Serve is a new type of payment platform that isn’t tied to a single card or
mobile operating system. It’s a flexible, easy to use platform, which from day
one brings tremendous assets to the alternative payments space and gives
consumers an option to shop on-line and off-line at millions of merchants who
accept American Express,” said Dan Schulman, Group President, Enterprise Growth,
American Express.

“We intend to quickly evolve the Serve platform by adding new features and
functionality as we learn from consumer and merchant experiences. To encourage a
broad cross-section of people to experience the benefits and convenience of
Serve, we are working with a range of partners to integrate Serve as a payment
method and deliver customized offers, and we will waive most consumer fees for
the next six months,” said Mr. Schulman.

How it worksConsumers set up an online account at Serve.com or through a smartphone app.
Funds can be added from bank accounts, debit cards, credit and charge cards, or
other Serve accounts. Customers can use those accounts to send and receive money
to friends, pay bills and make purchases online. Serve bridges online and
offline commerce – each customer will be issued a Serve reloadable prepaid card
linked to their Serve account that can be used at any merchant or ATM that
accepts American Express cards.

Unlike traditional debit card accounts, Serve offers users the ability to easily
create, manage, and specify sub-accounts for their friends, family members or
colleagues. Sub-accounts are linked to the master account and allow users to set
spending profiles for everything from children’s allowances to dog walker fees.

The Serve platform evolved from technology obtained through the acquisition of
Revolution Money in early 2010.

Serve is available immediately to anyone in the U.S. and is expected to launch
into other international markets over the coming year. American Express will
continue to evolve the features and functionality of Serve based on market
feedback. To gain consumer and merchant insights about Serve and to help shape
upcoming releases, a marketing pilot will also be conducted in Eugene, Oregon.

Partnerships
While payments are the foundation of the Serve platform, American Express is
also announcing a number of partners who will use the platform to deliver
relevant offers that drive spend and build loyalty. Three of the first partners
are Ticketmaster®, Concur® and Flipswap.

“A cornerstone of the long-term vision for Serve is developing partnerships
with commerce, gaming, entertainment, and social networking organizations,” said
Mr. Schulman. Partnerships, with players such as Ticketmaster, Concur and
Flipswap will introduce Serve to new customers and help build scale. These
companies have loyal communities of customers, and we are thrilled to partner
with them as we grow and expand Serve's reach.”

Ticketmaster will offer Serve as a platform for customers to make and collect
payments toward ticket purchases from other customers. Concur will utilize Serve
as an expense management and reimbursement method for transactions processed via
Concur’s small business expense reporting service, Concur Breeze. Flipswap will
utilize Serve to issue refunds more quickly to consumers who sell or trade in
their old mobile and cell phones for reuse or recycling.

Details around these and a number of additional partnerships will be announced
over the coming months.

Giving Back Widget
Serve is also partnering with five major charities – Autism Speaks, Best
Friends Animal Society, Malaria No More, Save The Children and Stand Up For Kids
– to enable each organization to raise funds via a donations widget. Widgets can
be downloaded on Serve.com and at
facebook.com/paywithserve, and shared on other Web sites, including Facebook,
to encourage donations. Serve will match all contributions via the widget up to
$100,000 for each charity.

In the coming months, Serve will offer selling widgets that give customers the
ability to sell items through their own social networks.

Highly Competitive Fees Waived for Launch
Serve consumer fees will be highly competitive. There are only two fees for
consumers and we are waiving the fee to put money into the Serve account for the
next six (6) months. The two fees are:

Unlike some other products in the market, Serve has no fees to open an
account, no monthly fees, no fees for P2P transactions, no fees to set up
sub-accounts (up to four accounts) and no fees to use the widgets.

Merchants who accept American Express cards will pay a prepaid discount rate for
transactions made both in stores and online with a Serve prepaid card.

Investor Conference Call – Live Audio Webcast
A conference call with members of the investment community will be held today
March 28, 2011, at 11:00 am EDT. The call will be hosted by Dan Schulman, Group
President, Enterprise Growth, American Express.

Live audio of the conference call will be accessible to the general public at
http://ir.americanexpress.com. A
replay of the conference call will also be available at the same Web site
address.

About Serve
Serve, by American Express, is a next generation payment platform designed to
deliver emerging payments and services to address the changing ways consumers
interact and exchange money -- with one another -- as well as merchants. Learn
more at serve.com and connect with us on
facebook.com/paywithserve and
twitter.com/serve.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-looking Statements
This press release includes forward-looking statements within the meaning of the
Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, which are subject to risks and
uncertainties. The forward-looking statements contain words such as “believe,”
“expect,” “anticipate,” “optimistic,” “intend,” “plan,” “aim,” “will,” “may,”
“should,” “could,” “would,” “likely,” and similar expressions. Readers are
cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which
speak only as of the date on which they are made. The company undertakes no
obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements. Factors that
could cause actual results to differ materially from these forward-looking
statements, include, but are not limited to, the following:

the willingness of consumers to use the Serve product, and in particular
consumers that do not traditionally rely on charge and credit cards to
manage their day-to-day finances, which will depend in part on their
willingness to try the Serve product instead of competing payment products
and their satisfaction with the operability, fee structure and other
features of the Serve product;

the ability of the Company to add new features and functionality and
ease of use to the Serve platform on an accelerated basis that reflect the
needs and desires of consumers, merchants and other participants in the
payments space, which will depend in part on the Company's ability to
retrieve and effectively assess information from users and other parties on
a real-time basis and then make the right judgments in how to build-out the
existing Serve platform;

the success of the Company in developing relationships with partners,
both in and outside the U.S., who will effectively integrate Serve as a
payment method for their customers, which will be critical in facilitating
the Company's ability to expand the scope and number of Serve users; and

technology trends that will impact the environment within which Serve
operates and influence how the Serve product will have to evolve to remain
compatible and competitive.

A further description of these uncertainties and other risks can be found in
the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2010,
under Item 1A. Risk Factors and Cautionary Note Regarding Forward Looking
Statements, and the Company’s other reports filed with the SEC.